Mi-8 crash was due to 'pilot distraction': SWAC chief

THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS SERVICE | Jul 9, 2001, 01:29 IST

gandhinagar: the controversy surrounding the crash of mi-8 helicopter on november 12, 2000 in nalia has finally been put to rest with the indian air force concluding that it was caused due to 'pilot distraction' and not due to any "enemy action", as suspected earlier. briefing reporters at the headquarters of the south western air command (swac) here on saturday, aoc-in-c air marshal v k bhatia when asked about the contrary reports on the crash elucidated that there had been a "reporting error" during the reconnaissance mission. according to him, "the pakistani fishing boats parked in the nullah below caused the distraction that diverted the pilot's attention momentarily when the helicopter was flying low." incidentally, the court of inquiry on this crash has already concluded the cause of crash as being "air-crew co-ordination error". asked about the frequent air crashes, bhatia described it as "normal" and added that sometimes despite regular checks, components failed before their scheduled time. to check frequent infiltrations across the indo-pak border on the gujarat side, "a quick reaction team (qrt)" called the 'tat rakshak' have been formed since the past one and half years", bhatia informed. further, the forces had also begun joint exercises every fortnight with the indian army, coast guards and the border security force at the joint operation centre located in the bsf centre at bhuj. about swac's expansion plans, he said that it was in the process of building a permanent headquarter at chiloda in gandhinagar where it has acquired 170 acres of land. "we have made a requisition before the state government for another 100 acres that should be contiguous with this one," bhatia added. he said that swac, which already had 18 sukhoi-30s, was in the process of acquiring 22 sukhoi-30 mki upgraded multi-role model with the avionics and weapon systems, being readied at russia. the last squadron of hunters, said bhatia, were on the threshold of retirement. the air force was also in the process of "mid-life upgrades" of combat aircrafts like mig-21 and jaguars. citing the three major achievements during his tenure, bhatia said that he had launched an operation of preparedness, improving operation capability and creating an ethos to make the officers proud of their service and creating 'air warriors'. he announced that the building that had housed the headquarters of swac in jodhpur would now be converted into a museum and every iaf base in the state would have a museum. asked if the government compensation of rs 1 lakh had been awarded to the air force personnel and their families who had perished in the january 26 earthquake in bhuj, bhatia said, "it has not happened as yet". iaf lost 96 men in the quake, out of which 30 were uniformed personnel. but he added that the air force staff had contributed from their salaries and collected a sum of rs 3 crore which was in the process of disbursement to the beneficiaries under various schemes.